The Rebel Faction

Space over Trandosha: Bloodfang

“Looks like we made a major dent in his ego.” Tiosk said with a mild chuckle, then got on the comm. to the rest of the now much larger Fleet. “Ion cannon’s only. I want to minimize opposing Wookiee losses here, even if they wouldn’t return the favor.”

~I was about to suggest the same thing Tiosk.~ He heard Balik said. ~But keep in mind our friend Buuwa is likely to do everything he can to destroy us, even if it meant destroying his ship.~

“If it comes to that Vice Admiral, we still have the main guns are both our ships to whip out Buuwa’s ship if left with no other choice.” Tiosk said grimly. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

Gory Teeth

“Mother better buckle up this is not going to a pleasant ride!” Varcanna yelled as she drove back into her pilot’s seat and jerked the controls sharply downward to avoid a fury of turret fire from the Interdictor.

Naosha felt her stomach lurch and she griped the seat tightly as Varcanna took the ship in to evasive maneuvers. Due to her still somewhat unfamiliarity with the ship itself, she wasn’t able to avoid all turret fire and the ship shuttered due to the impact of said turret fire. Thankfully, Skiprays were made to survive encounters with Capital ships, so the damage was minimal.

At one point Varcanna started feeling the pull of the planets gravity and Varcanna wondered if she should descend into Trandosha’s atmosphere to evade that persistent Interdictor. That decision was made for her however when a stray ion cannon bolt, no doubt from a friendly ship trying to stop the Interdictor, struck the Gory Teeth. Arcs of ionization spazmed along the control panel and Varcanna suddenly found herself without any ship functions. Even worse, the planet was pulling her in without trouble now.

“What happened?” Naosha asked.

“Got hit with a ion cannon, lost all ship controls.” Varcanna said grimly. “Plus the planet is pulling us in. Gods I hope controls come back before we hit the ground…”

Naosha looked pale. “I wanted to go home…but not like this…”

Gory Teeth

The heat of the forced reentry into Trandosha’s atmosphere caused the edges of the viewport to glow red and flames to arc around the bow of the ship. Varcanna was feverishly trying to get the control systems to kick back in while Naosha just sat there frozen to her seat, her claws digging into the arm rests with a look of terror on her face.

It didn’t help that they started spinning, causing the surface to spin as well as get rapidly get closer in the viewport, making them both dizzy. Varcanna had to force herself not to look out the viewport so she could concentrate on the task at hand. Panick started setting in when the crash warning system started crying out in alarm.

The gods decided to smile upon them this day, for the controls finally came back online. Not hesitating Varcanna jerked back on the control stick, pulling with all her might to stop the spinning. She managed to stop the spinning, but the ground was too close now to avoid a crash landing.

“Hold on!” Varcanna screamed as she pulled as hard as she could to level the ship off enough to hopefully make this crash survivable.

The initial impact almost blew them both out of their seats, seat belts or no. Varcanna held firm to the control stick as the ship skidded along the dusty earth, more as a hand hold then anything else. The ship continued to slide, even did a full 360 degree spin before finally coming to a stop.

Neither moved for a full two minutes, the reality that they had survived taking a while to sink in. It was Naosha that broke the silence first.

“I don’t care how many promises, bribes, or assurances anyone gives me…I AM NOT FLYING IN A SPACESHIP EVER AGAIN!”

Bloodfang

Tiosk was nearly thrown from his seat from the latest impact, the smell of smoke hanging in the air.

“Sir we will not survive another hit like that!” His sensor officer warned.

“I am figured that.” Tiosk said. “What’s the status of Buuwa’s remaining Fleet?”

“All ships other then the Interdictor have been disabled sir. Naturally, his ship is putting up the hardest fight.”

“Main gun still online?”

A brief pause. “Yes sir. However the hyperdrive has already been knocked off line.”

Tiosk frowned. “If that’s the case lets hope we aren’t forced to use it: with the shape we are in we may not survive the sudden drain of power.” A gut feeling made him remember something else. “Where is the Gory Teeth?”

“Umm….” The sensor officer looked panicked. “I…don’t know sir. Last known position was just out of the zone of Trandosha’s gravity influence. Some ships were having a dickens of a time getting the Interdictor off her though.”

Tiosk felt a knot form in his stomach. Since the Interdictor was now baring down on them that left two choices: either Naosha managed to escape by entering Trandosha’s atmosphere or…

No. Naosha’s alive…has to be. Tiosk thought. Buuwa would have no doubt bragged about destroying her if the Gory Teeth was destroyed.

“Sir.” A voice said, bringing him out of his musings. “The Interdictor has finally been disabled.”

“Thank the gods…” Tiosk said. “Let Tzhali decide what to do next. And someone to find the Gory Teeth!””

Trandosha: Council of Elder’s Courtyard.

Rissonik, Asri, Russis and the handful of warriors that were with them were just about to enter the courtyard that lead up to the Council of Elder’s building with a shuttle suddenly landed there. Wisely, the group stayed in the alley, watching as a dozen marines disembarked.

“Somehow I don’t think they are here to escort us.” Rissonik growled lowly. His suspicions were confirmed when one of the Courtyard guards confronted the marines, only to be shot dead on the spot.

“A forced take over.” Russis growled. “No doubt they either intend to hold the Council hostage or simply kill everyone.”

“And it will take too long for the military to respond to this sudden threat. After all we’ve accomplished we cannot afford to lose control of the government to a third party.” Rissonik said, then looked up at his warriors. “Tuko thom eat.”

The Warriors grinned and sprung into action, catching the marines by surprise. Asri was about to join in, but Rissonik held her back. “No, stay here Asri. Not because I doubt your fighting abilities but in case we are discovered here before the warriors get them all.”

“Understood Sha’tor.” Asri said with a nod of her head, though she looked disappointed.

Trandosha: Council of Elders Courtyard

Rissonik and Russis were too busy watching the warriors kill the marines to hear the commotion behind them, but Asri froze briefly in sudden alarm when she heard the sound of the girls weapon being powered up.

I know that sound… She thought, slowly glancing behind her to see various limbs and the like fly in front of the alley opening. Have ‘they’ started looking for me too? Or are they here for something else? She had no way of knowing of the individual that welded that weapon was Sith or not, nor if he or she was here to influence the Council. Quietly, she edged away from Rissonik and Russis to see if she could catch a glimpse of who it was, but only saw the mutilated bodies of five marines. One of them still looked to be alive, though unconscious and missing an arm. She let him be, as he was of no threat and wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. When she turned back she saw the warriors reporting to Rissonik: from what she could tell, they only suffered minor injuries.

“So there’s still six of them out there.” Rissonik said worriedly.

“Just one is missing.” Asri corrected, gesturing behind her. “However I was not the one that took them out.”

“Then who?”

She shrugged. “I cannot say for sure, but I pray whoever it was wasn’t related to a former employer of mine.”

“Who was your former employer then?” Russis asked, looking worried.

“A Sith.” She admitted, but quickly added. “It’s a long story and right now with one of those marines still missing we don’t have time for story telling.”

Rissonik slowly nodded. “Whom no doubt went into the Council Building. Go hunt him down. We’ll meet you in the sub chamber.”

Asri lowered her head. “Aye Sha’tor.” Then she dashed out of the alley and disappeared into Council Building.”

“Used to work for a Sith?” One of the warriors quipped. “You sure she can still be trusted?”

“Someone with her skills is not evil per say, it is just the acts they are told to commit.” Rissonik said. “Come on. The sooner we meet with the Council the better.”

Somewhere in the wilds

“So, where are we?” Naosha asked as Varcanna helped her out of the emergency hatch.

Varcanna scanned the horizon and shook her head. “No idea. But it’s a safe bet our descent was seen from miles around. No doubt someone is on the way to investigate the crash by now. The question is though: who’s side will they be on?”

“I suggest we find some place to stay low until we know then.” Naosha said. “Unless you can get this ship back up and running before they arrive.”

Another head shake. “Even if I had my tools with me the damage is too extensive to get the Gory Teeth back up quickly. I’m afraid she’s grounded for the time being.”

“Then finding a place to hide is priority.” Naosha said as she looked around. “Looks like there’s a couple shallow cliffs not far from here, maybe there’s a cave we can take shelter in.”

“Provided any such caves are not already occupied.” Varcanna said as she looked around the barren landscape. “That looks like our only option too. The sooner we get moving the quicker we’ll be under cover.”

Trandoshan space: Bloodfang

“Oh so they want ‘us’ to decide what to do with him…” Tiosk said with a sigh. “Like I have a clue…”

~Normally treachery of this sort is punished by death.~ Balik said. ~Though I have a feeling you’d rather not go that route.~

“To destroy his ship would needlessly end the lives of countless wookiees.” Tiosk said. “Besides, destroying a ship that is not able to fight back is not exactly honorable.”

~Well if your ‘you would be no better then the Empire’ line didn’t work on them I doubt there’s anything we could do to sway them.~

“Well, the fact that we just disabled their ships rather then utterly destroy them may be making them think…” He turned to his sensor officer. “How long until they start having functions back?”

“Some of them already have communications back going by the chatter sir.” The officer said, the comm. officer nodding to confirm it. “ETA on full systems function returning to all ships is 5 minutes.”

Tiosk thought a moment. “Open a broad channel. Balik, your ship is the only one out of the two of us that can still safely use the main gun. I would like for you to position your ship so it has a clear shot at the bridge of the Interdictor. I hope it won’t come to this, but if it does I want to minimizing losses.”

~Roger that.~ A brief pause. ~Wait a minute…who outranks who here?~

Tiosk chuckled. “No time to argue the issue of rank Balik.”

“Sir broad channel is open.”

“Good.” Tiosk made the appropriate adjustments on his private panel. “Attention Wookiee ships. We have just demonstrated our dedication to changing our ways to you. We could have slaughtered you, but instead we disabled your ships. This is your chance to make a choice. Persist and be destroyed, for we will not be so merciful next time in self defense, or leave and give my people the chance to prove that we really want to change our ways.
“Remember your dear Admiral is really a T’Doshok. One that is using you to keep the slaughter of your people going and all he cares about is his own glory and fame. Do you really think you can trust him knowing this?”

Trandoshan space: Bloodfang

All ships had surrendered, but the Admirals predicitably. However it had been far too quiet since then. Then suddenly came the attack on Tzhali's ship.

Tiosk spouted a few Trandoshan curses. "I just knew he would do something like this!" He growled. "Balik! I hope you have him targeted like I suggested!"

~Sly bastard knew what I was trying do and used every trick the book to foil our targeting sensors.~ Balik replied. ~We got him in our sights, however because he had to do so manually a direct hit on the bridge is questionable.~

"Take the shot. If we are to save Tzhali that's the only way that is quick enough to do it."

Balik sounded like he was about to respond, but Tiosk heard a grunt of pain instead as Buuwa's ship suddenly blasted his with a battery. Then he heard something didn't want to hear: the main guns been knocked offline. "All ship fire everything you have at that bastard!" Tiosk screamed over the comm, slamming his fist on the console.

Trandosha: Somewhere in the wilds

It was a long walk and Naosha wanted nothing more then to sit down and take a nap. When they reached the cave however they couldn't help but feel something ominous about it. There were no signs of anyone or thing having occupied it for a very long time: there wasn't even any simplier forms of planetlife in it, though the air felt like it had the mositure to sustain such life. They felt compeled to go deeper and deeper into the cave, though they had intended to stay near the entrance, and Varcanna had to pull out a small flash light so they could see. Then it opened to a large chamber over twenty feet high and roughly a hundred feet in diameter. There were many colemns and stalagmites and stalagites through out the chamber. The ominous feeling became greater and when Varcanna shined her light on one of the walls she got a clue as to why.

There were tally marks, not painted, but gorged into the cave wall. As she inspected the walls, she discovered there were hundreds of them.

"Kill tallies...has to be..." Varcanna muttered. "But who would make them?"

"I...think 'that' did...." Naosha said, a shaking hand pointing at something between two of the pillars.

It was a skeleton of what looked to be a very large Trandoshan...

...and it had no head...

Trandosha Space: Bloodfang

“What’s that crazy wook doing!?” Tiosk nearly screamed as he watched the Triton ram into the Interdictor. A moment later both ships bloomed into a big ball of fire which was quickly snuffed out by the vacuum of space. Debris of various sizes pelted the remaining ships, thankfully doing minimal damage to the already badly damaged Bloodfang.

“Sir. There’s a shuttle that just appeared out of the blast area.” The sensor officer said. “It’s Tzhali.”

Tiosk quickly opened a channel to him. “Damn you Tzhali…pulling daredevil stunts like that is supposed to be my gig!”

The rest of the bridge laughed, both due to the humor of the scene…and the relief that this space fight was finally over.

Trandosha: Council of Elders

The thrill of the hunt was always a nice feeling to a Trandoshan and Asri was no exception, Akisi status or not. She slipped through the building like a deadly shadow, seeking her prey: the one surviving marine out of the attack squad. Asri knew that even one man could cause a lot of damage if pressed or ordered to and thus had to find him quickly. Considering what this building was, his target had to be either the main Council chamber or one of the subchambers, so she was making her way in that direction.

The sound of gun fire up ahead made her curse and pick up the pace. Hopefully those were guards the marine was taking out, not Council members, but at least she now knew exactly where the man was. After rounding a corner she slowed her pace to a stalk, for her prey was in sight.

Yes it was a couple of guards he had shot, she could see the unfortunate guards laying prone in a pool of their own blood. Fortunately these guards had a presence of mind to lock the door they were guarding at the first sign of trouble: the marine looked frustrated at the prospect of trying to slice or blast his way through it.

Asri watched him a moment, enjoying the little show as the marine punched, kicked, and fired his blaster at the unwelding door. It was when he gave up and started looking for another way into the sub-chamber Asri pounced.

There was nothing like the scream of a victim caught completely by surprise: even more satisfying is the fact this was a trained marine. Then again, suddenly having a seven foot tall white Trandoshan with foot long claws jump out at you would make just about anyone scream. The combination of her weight and momentum knocked him to the ground and the blades of one K’Zur tore into the mans shoulder, severing tendons and ligaments, rendering his weapon arm useless. Pinning his other arm down with her free hand, she lunged at his throat with her jaws, her teeth easily penetrating his soft flesh.

She drank eagerly for a moment, then ripped his throat out, blood spraying from the wound and a near soundless gurgling scream bubbled from the severed windpipe. Soon enough, the man lay still and when some of the adrenaline wore off she realized she had an audience. The Councilors had heard the mans scream an opened the door, personal blasters at the ready and gawking at her: one she recognized as Councilor Shissa. If she hadn’t been wearing her hood they likely would have shot her on the spot.

“Greetings on the behalf of Sha’tor Rissonik.” Asri said cheerfully, blood dripping from her muzzle (and helping to disguise her appearance even more). “He’ll be joining you shortly.”

“Your friend Rissonik keeps the strangest company…” One of the Councilor’s said to Shissa, how just shook her head.

Cave somewhere out in the wilds

“Is that…” Naosha started to say, but couldn’t finish due to the fear that had griped her.

“It has to be…” Varcanna said, also fearful. “There’s too much evidence around for it to be anything else. I…find it hard to believe that after all this time, the skeleton of the K’Satizitus itself still exists…”

“It should have turned to dust by now…” Naosha said, cautiously taking a step toward it. “Yet it seems to have been preserved somehow…like the skull has. I…” She looked around nervous. “I can almost feel it watching us…but that can’t be…it’s currently in…” Naosha shook her head: she didn’t want to remember that this beast’s spirit was currently in full control of her only son’s body.

“So can I…” Varcanna said, suddenly sounding very bitter. “And I don’t like it.” Suddenly Varcanna picked up a sizeable rock and threw it at the skeleton. The rock smashed against some of the skeletons ribs, shattering them easily. The feeling in the cave suddenly felt very cold and…angry? Instead of frightening her, it inspired her. So whatever watched this place didn’t like her smashing the bones did it? Growling she picked another large rock. “For you Trazu…” She hissed as she started smashing the rock against the skeleton repeatedly.

“Varca…what are you doing?” Naosha said, her voice trembling. The air around them seemed to be screaming and the air grew colder still, numbing both their hides. Varcanna persisted, not letting the biting cold halt her efforts to destroy the remains of her most hated enemy.

When the last bone was nothing but power, the cold in the air suddenly disappeared and the screaming stopped. It felt like a normal cave now: the ominous feeling was gone. For a moment Varcanna could only kneel there, her body shaking with exhaustion and grief. Naosha approached her daughter and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“When we return home…” Varcanna said with some force in her voice. “I’m going to do the same to that milking skull…family heirloom be damned…”